Pages

Consultation Letter

Our response to Nottingham City Council's Consultation

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign is writing to you regarding the proposed abolition of Council Tax Benefit Scheme and its replacement by local Council Tax Schemes and regarding your consultation.

Please note that we have
written ‘Don’t know’ to questions 7 and 8 because the questions are slanted as
is the options for answers in question 9

To oppose the proposed abolition of Council
Tax Benefit and its replacement by local Council Tax Schemes; to campaign for
councils to refuse to pass on the cuts to its local community; to support those
who are unable to pay their council tax due to the proposed changes; to call on
councils not to pursue those who are unable to pay their Council tax due to the
council's changes

Under the misnamed ‘Welfare Reform Act’, the government
is proposing to abolish the national Council Tax Benefit scheme which is
centrally funded and make all councils in England bring in their own scheme
from April 2013. This is with less funding, aiming to save around £410 million
in England, approximately 10% of current costs. In Nottingham and
Nottinghamshire the cut is around £13.29 million. For Nottingham City Council the
shortfall is closer to 15% of what Nottingham City Council currently pays out
in Council Tax Benefit. According to a
report by Broxtowe Borough Council (July 2012), they estimate the loss to Nottingham
City Council to be £6,185,000 as the billing authority and £5,280,000 as
receiving authority.

The government wants councils to cut benefits as part of
the attack on the welfare state

to make the 99% pay for the bankers’ and the system’s crisis.
The government wants to make benefits so awful that people will work for as
little as employers want to pay. Hardly surprising, some in the government want
to get rid of the National Minimum Wage.

A recent report in the Guardian newspaper (Tuesday 16th
October) based on Freedom of Information requests by “False Economy” reported
that councils were resigned to seeing residents refusing to pay their council
tax. Nottingham City Council’s proposals mean that many people will not be able
to afford to pay their council tax.

·Nottingham and
Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign calls on the council to
commit to not pursuing people who cannot afford their council tax.

The BBC has reported that
the Tory, Patrick now Lord Jenkin, who designed what became known as the
"poll tax" in the 1980s has warned that Council Tax Benefit cuts risk
creating a "poll tax Mark 2".

Despite Nottingham City Council saying it will campaign for
changes to the government’s proposals, it is implementing them and proposing
savage attack along with Derby and Leicester councils.

Nottingham City Council is proposing amongst other
measures:

·With
some similarity to the disastrous poll tax, that all working age people would
have to pay at least 20% of their Council Tax bill with some similarity to the
poll tax. The councils own consultation document provides examples of the
increased payments the council would expect which will be unaffordable for many
Council Tax Benefit recipients and would mean a choice between paying a Council
tax Bill or putting towards necessities such as food or ever rising utility
bills

Nottingham City Council is proposing

·a
property band restriction. Council Tax Benefit would be based on a maximum of a
band B property. Therefore, if one member of a couple worked and one did not
and the working person lost their job – they would pay:

ØIf
in a band B property, £251 per year - £5 a week

ØIf
in a band D property £606.92 a year – £11.67 per week – a massive 37% of their
council tax

This proposal is penalising people for
no other reason than they live in a property banded above Band B. Whilst the
council states that is 5.08% of those currently receiving Council Tax Benefit,
unemployment and short time working is affecting more and more people. Illness
can prevent people working whatever their property band. In addition, once the
principle is implemented of a property restriction, the local authority may
well argue for a Band A restriction (as mentioned as an option in question 9)
once funds are reduced even further by the government.

Nottingham City Council is proposing:

·to
reduce the upper savings limit to £6,000.
Savings of £6,000 is not a large amount when compared to the huge
salaries of the government, MPs, the private funders of the Conservative Party
and the bankers with their bonuses. Nottingham City Council’s proposal is even
harsher than the current limits £16,000 and will cause hardship

Nottingham City Council is penalising
people and denying Council Tax Benefit to people who e.g. due to bereavement
receive some monies or are saving up for their retirement (which is encouraged)
or who perhaps receive some redundancy pay (having suffering the loss of their
job)

The Guardian newspaper
has reported Councils already believe that up to half of people on low incomes
will not pay their council tax and there is little the councils can do because
it will not be cost effective.

Nottingham
and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign

·opposes all changes to Council
Tax Benefit that are a detriment including the proposals that all working age
people would have to pay at least 20% of their Council tax; we oppose the
reduction in the savings limits; we oppose the changes proposed for the Second
Adult rebate and for non-dependents

·calls
on the local authority to make clear that it will not pursue those on low
incomes including those at work because it would not be cost effective

Nottingham
City Council proposes wants to remove backdating.

This will inevitably affect the
vulnerable who may not be able to make a claim without help. Normal local
authority practice is to commence a claim from the Monday after the claim is
received. It is unreasonable to expect
people to be able to guarantee that they can make their claim in advance or on
the first Monday. For those who need help and support making their claim and/or
whose circumstances are such that it is not realistic to expect them to make
their claim on time, they would be penalised by this proposal.

As
the local authority has a duty under the regulations to protect the vulnerable,
we believe removing backdating is in conflict with this duty.

Situations arise, whereby the
claimants may lose their job without much notice. Is Nottingham City Council to
back date claims in these circumstances? Will Nottingham City Council backdate
acclaim if the previous person liable for the Council Tax has died or because
an exemption had been removed? Does the
local authority truly believe that in these circumstances, claims will arrive
‘on time’?

Nottingham
City Council is proposing setting a minimum award level

The wording of this proposal can be
confusing. Initially, it might appear that this proposal means that all those
who are entitled to receive some Council Tax Benefit would have their
entitlement made up to a minimum of £2 or £4 per week. However, this does not
appear to be the case. It appears that the local authority is proposing that
anyone who would receive less than the £2/ week or £4 /week proposed would lose
their entitlement. If this is so, it is a petty, penny pinching approach.

Nottingham
and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign opposes the end of
backdating;

Protecting pensioners

Currently, the government has exempted pensioners
(approximately 1/3 of Council Tax Benefit recipients) from this latest attack
but we believe that if this government is successful in abolishing the national
Council Tax Benefit scheme due to a lack of fight by local authorities, they
will look to make further cuts in the funding available and will consider
removing the safeguard for pensioners.

Nottingham and
Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax Benefits Campaign question whether the local
authority has effectively considered how it will implement its scheme and
prevent any detriment to pensioners.

Will the local authority systems automatically pick up
that a Council Tax Scheme recipient is not of working age and that person
should not suffer a detriment by the local authority proposals?

Will the local authority systems automatically pick up
that a Council Tax Scheme recipient has a birthday during the year and is no
longer of working age and that person should not suffer a detriment by the
local authority proposals?

What will be the situation in households where there are
two adults who are jointly and severally liable if one of the adults is not of
working age?

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend Council Tax
Benefits Campaign would expect that the local authority takes responsibility
for ensuring that those adults who are no longer of working age do not suffer a
detriment.

Is the local authority attempting to place the onus on to
the claimant to inform the local authority if they are no longer of working age
or will the local authority accept that it is their responsibility? The former
would not only be the council trying to absolve itself of responsibility but
would lead to non working age adults suffering a detriment and raise the
question whether the local authority was really attempting to protect those adults not of working age.

How will the ending of backdating not be a detriment to a
non working age adult who does not make their claim ‘on time’ - or will the local authority retain
backdating for non working age adults

Under the government’s proposals, any increased demand
for Council Tax Benefit e.g. due to job losses or reduced income such as from
short time working, has to come from the pot of money already allocated by the
government.

·Greater
need means less is available for each recipient and year on year, if Nottingham
City Council does not fight, it will be re-assessing claimants income and
expected need and looking how to make the savings (e.g. cuts in
benefits/increased charges).

·If the Con-Dem proposals are not stopped, if Nottingham City Council does not build a campaign to prevent these
attacks on its local population, there will be further cuts in the money
allocated by the government each year and Nottingham City Council will be faced
with making even more draconian cuts in entitlements.

Nottingham
City Council (and all other councils) should do everything in their power
to refuse to pass on central government cuts on and Nottingham
CityCouncil should stand firm to pay Nottingham residents according to
their benefit needs based on the existing system.

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend
Council Tax Benefits Campaign would want to campaign with the Labour Council if it was truly willing to lead a
serious fight for funding to retain the current scheme and if it refuses to
pass the cuts on either by increased charges and/or cuts in benefit
entitlement.

Where available, councils should use reserves to cover
any shortfall and to buy time to build a mass campaign for properly funded councils and the return of
monies lost due to reductions in central government funding. Nottingham
City Council should stop using highly paid external consultants which costs
millions of pounds.

If the
council does not retain the current scheme, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Defend
Council Tax Benefits Campaign will
support those unable to pay their council tax.

With regard to
questions 7, 8 these are slanted questions and a Yes or No answer cannot answer
them properly. The local authority links increasing support for particular
households with reducing Council Tax Benefit by even more and/or making further
restrictions such as a Band A property restriction.

The local authority should be leading a campaign, fighting
for proper funding from the government.

It is clear that some households will need
more support than others based on their needs and paid in accordance with the
existing Council Tax Benefit system, but this should not be used to separate
groups into “deserving” and “non-deserving”.

The present
system provides benefit to people with a wide range of needs and different
circumstances. None of these groups should be excluded, and neither should
there be an “across the board” cut for any or all groups. The present system,
based on the needs of the people of Nottingham, should be allowed to continue
and not be cut by an arbitrary figure by central government.

Equality
Impact Assessment

Nottingham City Council has a duty to
ensure its proposals have been Equality Impact Assessed and should seek to
ensure that no person affected shall suffer a detriment either directly or
indirectly as a result of their ‘protected characteristics’.

Has the local authority carried out an
Equality Impact Assessment of its proposals and when is it to be published and
made readily available?

Rushcliffe is now
consulting on its draft council tax support scheme, the replacement for council
tax benefit. The consultation ends on 2 November. The council will
consider all views put forward and make a decision on the new scheme at its
council meeting on 13 December.

The Government is
abolishing council tax benefit in April 2013 and has asked councils to develop
their own scheme to ensure residents get help to pay council tax. These changes
are part of the nationwide welfare reform.

When the new scheme
comes into force, Rushcliffe’s funding will be reduced by an estimated 13.4%,
so the new scheme needs to take this into account while meeting the
Government’s aims and protecting the neediest residents.

The majority of
claimants will see no change. Pensioners will be protected and there will be no
changes to their benefits. It is also proposed that families with dependent
children are protected from the main change. The main change under the
draft scheme is that council tax support will be based on 90% (or optionally
85%), of the actual council tax bill, instead of being based on the whole bill
as it is currently. Other changes put forward in the proposal are that
residents with over £10,000 (or optionally £12,000) in savings should not
receive any Council Tax Support. Claims can be backdated for Council Tax
Support for 3 months. Changes are also proposed where there are non-dependents
in the household

John Cranswick,
portfolio holder for finance said: “We want to protect the most vulnerable
residents, while encouraging people to work where it pays them to do so.”

Council tax is changing

What’s happening?

The
Government is planning to abolish Council Tax Benefit in April 2013. It has
asked individual councils across the country to develop their own Council Tax
Support Scheme to ensure residents still get the help they need to pay their
Council Tax. These changes are part of the Government commitment to Welfare
Reform, a policy change which aims to make working more attractive and make
more effective use of resources to reduce the country’s dependency on state
benefits.

When
the Government hands over funding for the new Scheme, the overall amount we
have to distribute within Rushcliffe will be reduced by an estimated 13.4%. We
need to design our local Scheme taking into account Government aims, the money
available, the impact on residents and the need to protect certain groups of
residents.

Why are we consulting?

We
have until January 2013 to design a new Scheme and need your help to make the
best possible use of the money available. That is why we are giving you the
opportunity to have your say on the changes we need to make to Council Tax
Benefit.

The
12 week consultation period will run from Monday 13 August to Friday 2 November
2012. After that, we will consider all of the views put forward and the Council
will make a decision on the new Council Tax Support Scheme on 13 December 2012.
The new Scheme will come into force on 1 April 2013 and, if you currently
receive Council Tax Benefit, this is when you may see a change in the amount of
support you receive from the Council.

How are we consulting?

If
you currently receive Council Tax Benefit, we will write to you in August to
explain the changes we propose making and to ask you what you think about the
draft Council Tax Support Scheme. We have developed a guide to explain the
changes and a questionnaire to help you tell us what you think.

We
have also written to a number of organisations which help people who currently
claim benefits to find out how they think people will be affected by the
changes we need to make. These include the Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Sure Start
and the Rushcliffe Advice Network.

We
are also consulting with those who represent our residents – Rushcliffe’s
elected councillors – and other public organisations such as the County
Council, Parish Councils, Nottinghamshire Police, and Nottinghamshire Fire and
Rescue, who are also affected.

What is the Rushcliffe Council Tax Support scheme?

The
Rushcliffe Council Tax Support scheme is still draft. This means that some
things may change as a result of the consultation. The main principles
underlying the scheme are:

The new scheme will principally be based on the way Council Tax
Benefit is currently calculated

Pensioners are protected as required by Government – they
will see no change in the amount of support they get from the Council

Currently, Council Tax Benefit is calculated using the actual
Council Tax bill. Under the draft scheme your support will be based on
90%, or optionally 85%, of the bill. However, we propose to protect
families with children from this change.

Residents with over £10,000, or optionally £12,000, in savings
will not receive any Council Tax Support

Residents will be able to backdate claims for Council Tax
Support for 3 months

Second adult rebate will be removed for all claimants

The non-dependant deduction will be increased by 20%

We
have been working with neighbouring councils to ensure our schemes are broadly similar
to minimise the differences experienced by Council Tax Support recipients in
different parts of the County.

Can I respond to the consultation if I live in
the Borough but do not receive Council Tax Benefit?

Yes,
we are interested in the views of all residents because the Council Tax Support
Scheme is supposed to be a local scheme which reflects local needs. In
addition, most residents will know someone who receives help with their Council
Tax bill from the Council and, therefore, will have an idea about how the
changes will affect them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Council Tax?

Council
Tax is a local tax on domestic properties based on the value of that
property. Each home is placed in one of eight valuation bands based on
its value on 1st April 1991. The Borough Council is responsible for collecting
Council Tax but the overall amount collected is distributed between the parish,
district and county councils, the Nottinghamshire Police, and Nottinghamshire
Fire and Rescue Service. The Council Tax pays for public services including
refuse collection, social services, environmental health, community safety and
education.

Who has to pay Council Tax?

Council
Tax is a charge which is usually paid by the people who live in a property. The
full tax assumes that there are at least two adults living in the property. If
there is only one occupant in the home, they may be eligible for a discount.
The tax is also paid by the property owner where the property is unoccupied and
no relief is applicable.

What is Council Tax Benefit?

Council
Tax Benefit is a means tested benefit that helps people on a low or no income
to pay their Council Tax. It is administered by local councils using rules set
nationally by the Government. No money is paid to the claimant. Instead, their
Council Tax bill is reduced by the amount of their benefit.

In
April 2013, the Government is abolishing Council Tax Benefit in favour of local
Council Tax Support.

What is changing?

From
April 2013, the Government intends to abolish Council Tax Benefit. Every
council will have to replace it with a local Council Tax Support scheme. The
Government is giving councils less money to pay for the new scheme. In
Rushcliffe the cut will be approximately 13.4%. The amount of money available
for Council Tax Support is expected to stay the same even if the number of
people claiming increases or the Council Tax charge goes up. Council Tax
Support will work more like a discount than a benefit.

Who will these changes affect?

All
current working age Council Tax Benefit claimants could be affected by these
changes and might see the amount of support they get from the Council change.
Although pensioners will move onto the new scheme, they will be protected and
will not have their support reduced under the new scheme.

Who will be able to get the new Council Tax
Support?

Anyone
who currently receives Council Tax Benefit will be assessed for the new Council
Tax Support. It is likely that most people who qualify for Council Tax Benefit
will get some Council Tax Support. Support for pensioners and most families
with children will not notice any change under the new scheme.

How much will I have to pay?

Depending
on how the new scheme is designed, it is likely that most working age people
who qualify for Council Tax Support will have to pay more than they do now or
than they would have done under Council Tax Benefit. The outcome of this
consultation will help us to decide how much more people in different groups
will have to pay. Pensioners and most families with children will not have to
pay more than they do now.

Will I have to re-apply?

Residents
who currently receive Council Tax Benefit will not have to re-apply under the
new scheme. We may contact you for additional information to re-assess your
claim under the new scheme in the New Year.